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Hosted by pizza geeks for pizza geeks, the first-ever Pizza Tomorrow Summit highlights what’s new and what’s next in our ever-evolving industry.

Now

that the pandemic is (mostly) behind us and things are back to (mostly) normal, where do we go from here? If you’re looking to create a strategic roadmap to the future, the Pizza Tomorrow Summit, taking place November 9 through 10 in Orlando, is the place to start. Hosted by pizza geeks for pizza geeks, it will feature hundreds of exhibitors with a wide range of products, including leaders like Grande, Sysco, Bellissimo, Liguria Foods, BelGioioso, AM Manufacturing, HungerRush, Fiero and more. And you’ll learn from some of the pizza world’s most accomplished experts and consultants in education sessions that run the gamut from dealing with labor issues to managing food costs, the vegan movement and marketing your pizzeria for maximum success. Here’s a look at some of the speakers and topics lined up for this important pizza industry event!

David Scott Peters

Peters is an author, restaurant coach and speaker who coaches restaurant operators on how to stop being prisoners of their businesses and find financial freedom. His first book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula: What Successful Restaurateurs Do, teaches the systems and traits restaurant owners must develop to run a profitable restaurant. Thousands of restaurants have worked with Peters to transform their business.

Topic: How to Avoid 3 Deadly Mistakes in Labor

Labor tends to be the largest expense in a restaurant—after an empty chair. It’s also one of the most important expenses, because a good team delivers great customer service, appropriate ticket times and incredible food while fulfilling your promises. Peters will teach restaurant owners the three deadly labor mistakes and how to avoid them. You’ll learn how to successfully budget for labor; how to identify your sales efficiency by position and quickly identify shifts where you are overstaffed; how to track to control labor costs; and how to avoid over-staffing.

Topic: Your Pizzeria Is NOT Average, So Stop Using a National Average Food Cost to Run It

Running a profitable pizzeria is hard enough. Running it using the wrong numbers is just plain dangerous. Too often, pizzeria owners or managers compare their food costs to the “average” restaurant’s. But your business is not average, and what works for one pizzeria may not work for yours. Peters will teach you how to set your specific operation’s food-cost target. He’ll also teach you how to measure to see if your team is doing a good job and if you are on pace to make the money you deserve. And you’ll learn about the importance of budgeting; how to calculate your actual food cost; why using a costing card is imperative in calculating your ideal food cost; and why using your budgeted, actual and ideal food costs are critical to your success.

Alex Koons

Koons has been in the pizza industry for 14 years. After starting as a delivery driver, he worked his way up Purgatory Pizza to become an owner in 2016. There, he rebuilt the branding and culture and expanded the vegan menu exponentially. In 2022, Alex opened up the first Hot Tongue, an all-vegan pizza shop. He’s also a consultant who stresses putting people first and helps chefs and owners expand their vegan offerings.

Topic: Don’t be Afraid, It’s Just Vegan!

Vegan: The word itself can make people cringe—or even jump a little. Alex will help you change that perception and rewire what “vegan” means to you personally and professionally. You just have to stop looking at the vegan market as alien, weird or “just a trend.”

If you tap into the same passion that you put into everything else, there should be no issues creating your own best version of “vegan.” Alex says, “I don’t make vegan food. I make food that happens to be vegan.” He’ll show you how to make the best damn pizza that happens to be vegan.

Dale Willerton

As The Lease Coach, Willerton negotiates lease deals for pizza operators and restaurateurs. He’s an industry leader and go-to expert who, for almost 30 years, has worked exclusively for tenants. With offices in Orlando, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, he has successfully negotiated and consulted on over 3,000 projects for tenants throughout the country. He’s also a professional speaker frequently appearing at events and conferences around the country and the author of Negotiating Commercial Leases and Renewals for Dummies

Topic: 13 Costly Mistakes Pizza Operators Make in Negotiating a Commercial Lease or Renewal

This is a must-attend session for both existing tenants facing a lease renewal negotiation as well as startup pizzeria entrepreneurs. You’ll learn the 13 costly mistakes tenants make in the leasing process; how to negotiate a lease renewal rent reduction; how to persuade the landlord to forgive rent arrears due to the pandemic; and how to negotiate for free rent, tenant allowance money and deposits and eliminate personal guarantees, even on renewal deals. You’ll also learn why tenants should almost never exercise their renewal option, plus how to manage the relationship with real estate agents and landlords. Every attendee will receive a free copy of Negotiating Commercial Leases and Renewals for Dummies.

Chef Billy Manzo

Manzo, one of only three Certified Master Pizzaioli in the U.S., is a restaurateur, a frozen pizza entrepreneur and a consultant who believes excellence does not tolerate compromise. Only a master can create a masterpiece!

Topic: From a Cigar Shop to a Multiunit Pizzeria Operator to Launching a Global Brand: Billy Manzo’s Pizza Success Story

Interviewed by Bruce Irving of Smart Pizza Marketing, Manzo tells his story, from watching his aunts cook in their backyard in Providence, Rhode Island, through his journey as an operator of multiple pizzerias, being “discovered,” and, ultimately, the announcement of his newest venture, Billy Manzo Pizza, poised to hit retail stores this fall.

Jaime Oikle

Oikle is the owner and founder of RunningRestaurants. com, a comprehensive website for restaurant owners and managers filled with marketing, operations, service, people and tech tips to help restaurants profit and succeed.

Topic: The Top Tech Trends and Tips for Today

Oikle offers a quick, fast-paced overview of some of the best insights and advice from tech entrepreneurs and pizza operators from the Running Restaurants podcast. He’ll share key tips from a variety of expert guests he’s interviewed on his podcast.

David “Rev” Ciancio

Ciancio is a New York City restaurant owner and knows how hard it is to operate and brand a hospitality business. A hospitality marketing consultant and customer and technology evangelist at Branded Strategic Hospitality, he has more than 20 years of experience in B2B digital marketing and business development, specializing in hospitality marketing, content, local SEO, reputation management and influencer marketing. He helps technology companies, brands and restaurants acquire and retain customers.

Topic: How to Acquire More Customers, Increase Guest Frequency and Beat the Third-Party Delivery Apps at Their Own Game

Discover how to increase guest acquisition and retention by providing a seamless customer journey with tech automation that’s easy to use and affordable—and doesn’t require a team of marketing gurus to operate. Most restaurant and bar owners are satisfied to be average…but not you! You’re here to play your A game. And the boss move is marketing—the kind of smart marketing that will increase sales and traffic without wasting countless hours or dollars on marketing that sucks. He’ll show you a perfect system and the tools you need to create a perfect marketing machine that will have you rolling in new guests and get current guests to happily spend more.

Topic: Your Marketing Questions Answered—An Operator Panel Discussion

Do you find yourself getting stuck in your marketing and wondering how to increase new guest acquisition or guest frequency and spend? Do you know how your marketing works but wish you had a better way to measure it? Are you curious about what kind of tech or software might help you to work faster, smarter and get better results? Join us for a panel discussion where you can get these questions—and more—answered once and for all from three successful restaurant leaders.

Roger Beaudoin

Beaudoin is a 25-year veteran restaurateur who created multiple successful concepts, most notably in pizza. He now sells online courses and a gamechanging staff training app to help other restaurateurs systemize their operation, train staff and maximize profit. He’s the host of the weekly Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, a two-time author and personal restaurant coach.

Topic: Maximize Restaurant Profits and Uplevel Your Pizza Operation

Beaudoin provides immediately actionable steps to help you systemize your operation; get the most from your team; solve labor challenges; recognize and empower future leaders in your business; deliver true hospitality; and double sales and maximize profits.

Topic: User-Friendly Financial Systems for Your Pizza Operation

Beaudoin teaches the mission-critical financial system necessary to optimize your business. What does inventory really mean? What are the dangers of waste, spoilage and theft? How do you calculate prime cost and the food and beverage costing formula? How can you stop labor cost abuses? You’ll also learn about menu costing for maximum profit, the perils of not knowing contribution margin, how to immediately increase menu profit, and why daily “break-even” is so important.

Steve and Linda Green

Steve and Linda Green are former Domino’s franchise operators and the publishers of PMQ Pizza Media.

Topic: 25 Years of PMQ

Steve and Linda weren’t born into the publication business. Their journey began several decades ago, owning a single pizza franchise, and took them down a path that led them to expanded roles, greater opportunities, and a little newsletter that ultimately became PMQ. Interviewed by Pizza Tomorrow Summit founder Glenn Celentano, they’ll share the story of how PMQ has served the pizza industry for 25 years.

Shane Murphy

Shane Murphy is the co-founder and CEO of Boostly, the leading text marketing and feedback company in the restaurant industry. Prior to that, Shane was on the executive team for Jolt, a worldwide restaurant operations software company. He is one of the industry’s leading experts on text marketing.

Topic: How to Use Text Message Marketing to Generate More Revenue

In this session, Murphy will cover why text marketing is so effective, industry stats related to text marketing, and the dos and don’ts you should be aware of. You will walk away with a playbook to build an engaged audience and a profitable marketing engine through SMS.